How it goes exponentially. Inflation in Weimar Republic

Daimler Notgeld or "Emergency Money". 3 billion marks in the end of October 1923 shouldn't be enough for buying a car. The purchasing power of the Daimler Notgeld might be not enough to change tires. Who knows about changing oil.

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In 1923, glass of beer cost 4 billion marks

Photo: Anders Adermark

20 000 000 000 looks like a big number. It wasn't thought in 1 October 1923. Our research shows that 20B Reichsmarks banknote was something like small coin in pre-hyperinflation era.

Kaiser's eagle on the 1908's Reichsbanknote. Gorgeous isn't it? This is because at that time German Empire were running on 1-to-1 gold standard and Reichsmarks were "Mark gleich Mark". It was a catchphrase during and after World War I indicating public confidence in the mark.

The flip-side is no less gorgeous. Banknote designer Paul Thumann primarily worked as an illustrator, producing plates for books by Goethe, Tennyson, Chamisso, Heine and many others. The bill also circulated in Weimar Germany, although it had far less value 📉

The "Darlehnskassenschein" loan notes were issued in Germany between 1914 and 1922 by the Reich Debt Administration (Reichsschuldenverwaltung). Formally, these notes were not "real" banknotes, but had to be accepted by all public treasuries as a means of payment. With the start of their issuance at the start of World War I, these loan notes were legally covered by loans on industrial and agricultural goods, but like all other means of payment, they were not redeemable for marks-gold.

10 000 000 000 for potatoes. Receipt from Weimar Republic.

Image courtesy https://t.co/z19IqF5Tin

Rare overprinted Reichsmark. The original value 5000 was quite close to official rate against Gold Mark. But something went wrong and it was eventually overstamped to reflect nominal value of 500B Papermarks.